Thank you!

Today we had a playdate with some friends at our house. At one point, Graham says to Abby..."Abby, you're cute!" Abby continues to play. Graham says, "Abby, say thank you." Abby says, "Thank you!" Just plain cute.

The Fantastic Fours?

When Jackson was turned two, I remember waiting for the "terrible twos" to start. I waited and waited, but no temper tantrums from my little boy. No screaming and yelling from my sweet little boy. Then he turned three...oh, the terrible threes! Jackson proved that he could in fact have terrible temper tantrums, yell, kick, scream, argue and be just plain old naughty! Now, of course Jackson has had plenty of sweet nice moments in the past year, don't get me wrong. But age three was way harder than anything he could dish out at age two. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think that might all be behind us. Yes, let's usher in "the fantastic fours". It hasn't been an empirical study by any means, but note the following stories as my current evidence:

1. On Sunday I was cleaning the bathroom. Jackson jumped up, leaving his train tracks behind, and asked for a sponge. That sponge paired up with a bottle of Windex and Jackson went to work! He sprayed (and sprayed and sprayed)and sponged the toilet, the wall, his bathroom stool, Abby's bathroom stool, and he even helped me clean the floor. I don't think I have ever seen him so proud as when I told him that he was the best bathroom cleaner helper ever! (and I wasn't lying, Matt never cleans the bathroom!)

2. The other night Jackson insisted on sleeping in the upstairs den on our air mattress. We put Jackson and Abby to bed and went downstairs to clean up. Abby was screaming and screaming. She doesn't usually do this, so we thought maybe we should just let her cry it out. About 5 minutes goes by and she suddenly stops. Then we hear on the monitor, "It's okay Abby, I'm here. I'm right here. You don't have to cry. Do you want me to go get Mommy? I will be right back. I will go get her. Don't cry while I'm gone, ok Abby?" He had gotten up and gone in to check on her while her neglectful parents left her to cry it out! So cute. I went upstairs and tucked both of them back in and everyone fell fast asleep.

3. Abby will not let us help her get dressed any more. Sometimes she can manage to put on her pants on her own. She can do shoes and boots, no problem. But she does need help sometimes, she isn't even two years old yet afterall. The other day we were in her bedroom getting ready and she will NOT let me help her. (She will no doubt NOT escape the terrible twos, but that is another post altogether!) Then Jackson comes into her room. "Here Abby, let me help you!" Jackson says. "Yack" she replies, smiling from ear to ear. He helped her into her leggings, explaining each step as he did it. He then helped her into her top, again explaining it step and step. I think I will be enlisting his help again in the near future. Abby seems to appreciate his help, mine, not so much.

So, what do you think? Have we left the terrible threes behind us and entered into the fantastic fours? Let's hope for yes. I don't think I can handle Abby's terrible twos if the answer is no.

My New Tent!

Abby got a play tent and tunnel for Christmas from Nana & Papa...she LOVES it, just as these pictures show!

Hmmmm....

Jackson and Abby have been playing together peacefully for about a half an hour now. They shared a yogurt all by themselves, have been going up and down the stairs, sharing Abby's new necklaces and running back and forth between the kitchen and living room. Matt and I have been sitting back and watching the action, hesitant to bud in. They just came running into the living room and Jackson says, "Come on Abby, do you want to go upstairs where they can't see us?" Hmmmmm....

Snow Day!

Yea! It's a snow day! Ok, well, not an official one. Jackson does attend a CPS school afterall. There needs to be 3 feet of snow and a windchill of 25 degrees below zero for CPS to call a snow day. But who cares? I'm the mom, and today, I decided it was a snow day! I didn't want to bundle up the kids and fight traffic, snow and slush just so Jackson could go to preschool for two and a half hours. So we decided to stay home and play!

So what do you do with an entire day when you just declared it a snow day? Well, you have a big waffle breakfast, and build an entire little people village. You then build a train track that encircles said village so the people can easily get from the carnival back home and then to the barn. You jump off of Jackson's bed into a pile of pillows. You play Dairy Queen and sandwich shop and break up several arguments about who should make sandwiches and who is in charge of the ice cream cones. You play naptime (yes, this is real game at our house!). If your name is Abigail Ann, you brush your teeth 6 different times. You chase the bad guy and then you become the bad guy and get chased. Then, after the bad guy game as incurred one too many injuries, you have a pizza picnic in the living room while watching Magic School Bus.
Hurrah for Snow Days!

Ringing in the New Year in Door County

We spent New Years in Door County with Nana and Papa, Aunt Katie and Uncle Mike, and Eli and Ephraim. Jackson said today on the long ride home that his favorite part was playing with Eli in the basement. They played Legos, chased monsters, watched movies, and even cuddled up in one bed together to sleep one night(so cute!). They had so much fun playing together, and despite some tattle-taling and a few meltdowns, the 5 days were near perfect. We ate, we rested, we played, we sled, and then we ate some more. Abby's new favorite word is cookie, after eating more than her share of Nana's Christmas cookies. She even named her new doll, "Cookie".

We rang in the new year with family friends and had an early celebration with the kids at about 9:30. I've never seen noise makers get such good use! After ringing in the new year a little early, the kids were sent off to bed so we could all party, uh, I mean fall asleep on the couch before midnight!


Jackson sporting his new train necklace, that he made all by himself.


Abby showing off her new tutu that Auntie Katie made. She loves it. When we took it off of her, she screamed and screamed.



Good-Bye 2009!

Hello 2010!

I had good intentions about writing a long post describing each and every wonderful moment of our Christmas, but time just got away from me. Here's a short recap: Jackson and Abby got way too many gifts, ate way too many cookies, and had way too little sleep! It was perfect!

On to 2010...